In recent years, there has been proposed a resistance variable nonvolatile memory device using a resistance variable material comprising transition metal oxide which is less in oxygen number (hereinafter referred to as oxygen-deficient) than transition metal oxide having a stoichiometric composition. The nonvolatile memory device includes an upper electrode layer, a lower electrode layer, and a resistance variable layer sandwiched between the upper electrode layer and the lower electrode layer, and resistance values of the resistance variable layer change reversibly by applying electric pulses between an upper electrode and a lower electrode. Therefore, by associating information with the resistance values, the information can be stored in a non-volatile manner (e.g., Patent Literatures 1, 2, and 3). It is expected that the resistance variable nonvolatile memory device can achieve miniaturization, a higher speed, and lower electric power consumption in contrast to a flash memory using a floating gate.